We’re Made of Star Stuff

The Discovery Channel’s How the Universe Works does its take on the old Carl Sagan quote, plus considers the end of the “Age of Stars.” Appropriately, it’s a star studded clip: Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, Phil Plait and others.

Related posts from Unreasonable Faith:

I just don’t understand people who think that religious myths are more profound and awe-inspiring than the real universe.

trj

I think many find the universe just too overwhelming, so they find comfort in thinking there’s a plan and a purpose for it (since, mainly for emotional reasons, they won’t accept the alternative: that we’re entirely left to our own devices). So their awe is directed less at the natural phenomena and more at their deity of choice who created and directs all of it just for us puny humans. To think that God created an entire universe just for us; isn’t that awe-inspiring? And if the universe is awesome, just think how much more awesome the god who created it must be.

Theory_of_I

Because they are taught that if they look out upon the star fields they should see only the face of god, all those damn twinklies are just distracting.

Jack

… Why couldn’t it have been ‘God’ who caused the stars to do this? Who says God didn’t use the physics of astronomy, or the like, to undergo the creation of the world or man?

People forget that science’s handicap is that it can not actually tell us about what happened long ago. Science is built on observations and science can not observe what happened x years ago. The theory of evolution, for example, makes many good possibilities and points based on what we know about the universe *now*. Remember, it’s based of of countless assumptions. It is no less ridiculous than believing an almighty being was there to create all of it.

Dr. Krauss, and others, *who* or *what* created the stars in order to create us?

trj

I love how your argument is basically “Believing in an almighty Creator is ridiculous, but so is your scientific explanation”. And also your complete disregard of the whole concept of historical evidence.

Jack, *who* or *what* created the Creator in order to create us?

Kodie

It is no less ridiculous than believing an almighty being was there to create all of it.

You mean a scientific explanation is as ridiculous, or more ridiculous, but not less ridiculous, than believing a magic invisible man decided to make an art?

Elizabeth

Faith isn’t about an “invisible man.” And science doesn’t have the answers to how or why the universe was made and / or how it fits into an even larger picture. We have no idea where this universe is. So “science” is infinitely limited. But many humans have had spiritual experiences that prove there is something else… unseen… a force behind our senses and limited human knowledge, and those personal experiences that multitudes have had are just as, if not more real, than a measuring device.

Troutbane

“But many humans have had spiritual experiences that prove there is something else… unseen… a force behind our senses and limited human knowledge, and those personal experiences that multitudes have had are just as, if not more real, than a measuring device.”

No, all that proves is that people have an experience that they themselves consider extraordinary. They can chalk it up to “God” but it doesn’t prove there is a or any Gods and it sure as heck doesn’t enforce any one particular religion’s claims. For example, some people have heard their pets talking to them, see other people as demons, or feel an incredible urge to slay evil beings and drink their blood. We could chalk this up to the supernatural OR we might wonder if those people are schizophrenic or mentally delusional. Science is about proving stuff using repeatable observable claims. Science is the opposite of inerrant belief because if you can sufficiently prove a scientific claim as being inaccurate or even wrong, science (over time) HAS to accept this and move on. It is always changing and fixing itself to come to a better understanding of the universe. Belief in a (or several) God(s) is the opposite of this.

Glen Cauthon

God more than used the laws of physics and gravity and the like….He created them too, in order for them to do the work He created them to do! You will never convince someone to believe in God….who is already convinced in their minds that there is no God If Gods own creation, in all it’s glory and magnificance is not enough to convince them, absolutely nothing will.

The Heavens declare His Glory, and the Stars sing this message every night….but many have closed their eyes to the beauty of it, and their ears to the wonderful melody it sings to us. What a pity to think of oneself as an “accident”. :(

Kodie

You’re just delusional, dear.

Troutbane

But who created God then?

Theory_of_I

>”Gods own creation, in all it’s glory and magnificance…”

You seem to have all the answers, so do tell, why did God go to all the trouble to do this? The universe is really big and complicated, was there some reason or purpose for creating it? Was it just to see if He could?

Glen Cauthon

Why did God go to all the trouble of creating the Universe you ask? Because He Loved us! I would think that self-evident!

Yoav

And yet the vast majority of this university he supposedly created just for us (how arrogant do you need to be to actually believe the whole fucking universe is about you?) would kill us instantly, not the most efficient design.

Sunny Day

He loves beetles more.

Chris

…or nuclear waste, as Hitchens pointed out.

Brad

The naivete of so-called intellectuals regarding faith and people of faith is staggering. Some of you are making huge assumptions about believers. There are plenty of us who look at science and see the beauty of God’s hand. The complexity, the depth, the purpose of it all, the mystery, the staggering size of it all. It’s foolish to say it’s either all logic or all emotion. It’s both. You can be intellectual and a believer. You can appreciate the work of science and the discovery of truth, and still hold to those truths that go deeper than what the mind, eyes, and ears perceive and record.

As a believer, I LOVE science. It makes God even more real to me. It reveals His mind and His thinking. Everything we learn about the physical world reveals a great, detailed process. Very purposed. I see scientific discovery as awe inspiring and humbling. To think the God that called all the staggering wonders of the universe his “fingerwork” bestowed great love and grace upon me is encouraging, humbling, and beautiful.

Custador

“…The purpose of it all…

Empirically explain the “purpose”, with explanation of exactly what you mean by “it all”, then show me some evidence that said purpose actually exists. Protip: The universe doesn’t have a purpose. It just is.

Troutbane

“As a believer, I LOVE science. It makes Ra even more real to me. It reveals His mind and His thinking. Everything we learn about the physical world reveals a great, detailed process. Very purposed. I see scientific discovery as awe inspiring and humbling. To think Ra called all the staggering wonders of the universe his “fingerwork” bestowed great love and grace upon me is encouraging, humbling, and beautiful.”

You are right, it must be Ra’s divine plan. And special pleading in 3…2…1….